When folks criticize filmmakers’ decisions to take the streaming money for their next feature or TV series, a common argument is that the project will get lost in the tidal wave of originals that are released. Basically, why make a film like “Da 5 Bloods” if it’s going to get skipped over and drowned out by lesser shows and movies, such as “Floor is Lava?”
According to numbers released by the notoriously secretive Netflix (via Deadline), Spike Lee’s latest feature, “Da 5 Bloods,” one of the films being discussed as a potential awards season contender, doesn’t have the viewership numbers to stack up against other originals on the platform. And while tens of millions of households did “watch” Lee’s latest feature in the first four weeks of release, when you compare the viewership to other Netflix projects, it paints a, well, depressing picture.
Yesterday, I went a bit deeper into how Netflix calculator “viewers” for a project, and that is in light of the company releasing the top 10 most popular original films the platform has released. The #1 film on that list is “Extraction” with 99 million viewers. A huge number, to be fair, even if it is a bit exaggerated. However, when you compare it to the reported 29 million that watched “Da 5 Bloods,” you can’t help but be a little disappointed.
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But hey, 29 million households watching a picture is pretty great, no matter what. And if the film was released in theaters, you could have people arguing that Lee would be incredibly happy with that result. It’s just when you look at other numbers for originals that have premiered over the past couple of months, as well, that makes you wonder what the hell is going on with Netflix subscribers?
Over a similar period, Netflix original series “Space Force” (a very subpar comedy series starring Steve Carell) earned 40 million household views. And the recent game show, “Floor is Lava,” earned an astonishing 37 million views. Perhaps the biggest shock is the reality show, “Too Hot to Handle” earned 51 million viewers.
And while it’s not an apples to apples comparison to pit “Da 5 Bloods” up against “Floor is Lava” in terms of quality and format, both occupy the same amount of space on your Netflix home screen, right? When potential viewers are scrolling through things to watch, it appears that mindless entertainment like “Too Hot to Handle” and “Floor is Lava” is attracting more eyeballs than an Oscar-winning filmmaker’s newest flick. There’s something inherently wrong about that, right?
Look, no one is here saying that “Da 5 Bloods” is a bomb. That’s obviously not the case. But when you hear filmmakers argue that making a movie for Netflix somehow devalues the project by risking it getting lost in the mess of reality shows, game shows, teen rom-coms, and the like, there’s maybe some evidence to back that up.
So, if you haven’t already and you want to support filmmakers like Spike Lee, give “Da 5 Bloods” a view. Netflix is paying attention to those numbers. Let’s try to make a film like that stand out more than whatever new junk is being spewed out by the streamer.